Myrtle Wilson, trapped in the upstairs apartment on top of the gas station her husband George owns. Myrtle has aspirations, of glamour and success, yet she is trapped in her Valley of Ashes, in which everything is coated with a thin dust of ash. The ashes are trucked out of New York City, the refuse of the coal fueling the busy urban lives of the city before they are dumped in the wasteland where Myrtle and George reside.
To illustrate Myrtle’s dissatisfaction with her life we see her explain how and why she fell for Tom Buchanan. She liked his fancy shoes and his nice suit, she stared at him as she rode the train into the city to visit her sister. Tom used Myrtle like the city of New York used The Valley of Ashes—as a dumping ground, disrespected and left behind. Myrtle was not good enough for tom and he let her know this as they fought in their rented New York City flat.
The Valley of Ashes symbolizes the middle class despair of the residents of this dusty, industrial wasteland as opposed to the green lawns and beautiful bay of water and gorgeous mansions of The East and West Eggs.
In similar fashion the theme of class despair and the working class being ostracized by the wealthy can be seen in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It is a timeless theme which has been played out in novels throughout various cultures and time periods.
In the same way The Valley of Ashes and East and West Eggs, and New York City all represent the various classes of wealth during this revolutionary time during the Roaring 20s, when money was flowing freely for many, yet some people felt left out of the success available for some of the other economic and social classes in the United States. The Valley of Ashes will forever represent George and Myrtle Wilson and the loss of their dreams, thinly coated with a layer of ash from the city.
To illustrate Myrtle’s dissatisfaction with her life we see her explain how and why she fell for Tom Buchanan. She liked his fancy shoes and his nice suit, she stared at him as she rode the train into the city to visit her sister. Tom used Myrtle like the city of New York used The Valley of Ashes—as a dumping ground, disrespected and left behind. Myrtle was not good enough for tom and he let her know this as they fought in their rented New York City flat.
The Valley of Ashes symbolizes the middle class despair of the residents of this dusty, industrial wasteland as opposed to the green lawns and beautiful bay of water and gorgeous mansions of The East and West Eggs.
In similar fashion the theme of class despair and the working class being ostracized by the wealthy can be seen in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It is a timeless theme which has been played out in novels throughout various cultures and time periods.
In the same way The Valley of Ashes and East and West Eggs, and New York City all represent the various classes of wealth during this revolutionary time during the Roaring 20s, when money was flowing freely for many, yet some people felt left out of the success available for some of the other economic and social classes in the United States. The Valley of Ashes will forever represent George and Myrtle Wilson and the loss of their dreams, thinly coated with a layer of ash from the city.